FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE - PAGE 5

The executive committee of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County has delayed by 75 days taking bids to construct a Round Lake temporary-storage facility for household hazardous waste. SWALCO had planned on accepting such bids last week, but that plan was derailed by intense public opposition, including an April 29 decision by the Village Board to terminate its agreement with the waste agency. Village leaders said SWALCO failed to respond to safety concerns in case of an accident at the facility, which would be near schools.

The Solid Waste Agency of Lake County's Executive Committee on Thursday delayed by 75 days taking bids to construct a Round Lake temporary-storage facility for household hazardous waste. SWALCO had planned on accepting such bids on May 21, but that plan was derailed by intense public opposition, including an April 29 decision by the Village Board to terminate its agreement with the waste agency. Village leaders said SWALCO failed to respond to safety concerns in case of an accident at the facility, which would be near schools.

By Kevin Lynch and William Grady, Tribune staff reporters | September 21, 2001

Trash of some sort may remain in the future of DuPage County's soon-to-be shuttered recycling center under options being studied by the county's Solid Waste Committee. Among the alternatives is a plan to turn the 10-year-old center in Carol Stream into a regional facility for collecting and sorting household hazardous waste materials. If adopted, the plan could expand a popular county program that allows residents to get rid of solvents, used motor oil, leftover pesticides and other hazardous materials during one-day collections at various sites in DuPage.

Enough motor oil to fill the crankcases of thousands of cars. Sufficient pesticides and herbicides to wipe out millions of bugs and acres of plants. Plenty of paint, poisons, acids, antifreeze and tar. And not a speck of it got into a stream, sewer, ditch or landfill. More than 225,000 pounds of household hazardous waste were collected last month in Will County, enough to raise the question of expanding a program piggy-backed onto the county's arsenal landfill contract. "It was a huge success," said Dean Olson, the county's waste services director.

The household hazardous waste collection facility in Naperville is so popular that the state may have to shut it down. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency says it can no longer afford to dispose of varnishes, household cleaners, pool chemicals and other items collected every weekend at Brookdale Road and Illinois Highway 59. When the permanent facility opened in 1992, the state paid $100,000 to dispose of the items. The facility is open to all Illinois residents but draws heavily from DuPage, Will and Kane Counties.

Naperville leaders agreed on Tuesday to exert political muscle to try to force the state Environmental Protection Agency to honor the terms of a five-year funding agreement for the city's household hazardous-waste drop-off center. The Illinois EPA's proposed modifications of the agreement call for funding to be scaled back by nearly half and capped at $250,000 annually for the remaining three years of the contract. The Naperville center, 1979 Brookdale Rd., one of the most active in the state, seems to be a victim of its own success, officials said.

The household hazardous waste collection facility in Naperville will stay open, thanks to an agreement worked out Wednesday between the city's mayor and head of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. The two have agreed to place a $300,000 cap on the amount the state will spend annually to dispose of the pool chemicals, varnishes and household cleaners dropped off every weekend at the site. The state agency must impose this cap because the Naperville facility has become so popular it is eating up too much of the department's budget, said Tom Skinner, director of the department.

A new mood of cooperation has settled over the controversy involving a storage facility for household hazardous materials in Round Lake, and officials now say an alternative site is being sought to the one that sparked community opposition. Village officials "are very receptive," Andrew Quigley, executive director of the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County, told the agency's executive committee Thursday. "They wanted to bring the facility into the area." Quigley will meet Wednesday with Round Lake Village President James Lumber, the village's building commissioner and fire chief to discuss a new location for the storage facility.

Citing concerns about their families' safety, about 200 adults and children marched down Sunset Drive in Round Lake on Thursday to protest a proposal to build a collection facility for household hazardous waste. The planned location for the facility--a one-acre site in an industrial park within a half-mile of Round Lake High School, Magee Middle School and a community center--incensed the protesters, who said they feared an accident could endanger them and their children. "I really don't want it that close to the kids," said Margie Cleveland, her 3-year-old son, David, in tow. "I don't want it in the community, period."

Citing concerns about their families' safety, about 200 adults and children marched down Sunset Drive in Round Lake recently to protest a proposal to build a collection facility for household hazardous waste. The planned location for the facility--a one-acre site in an industrial park within a half-mile of Round Lake High School, Magee Middle School and a community center--incensed the protesters, who said they feared an accident could endanger them and their children. "I really don't want it that close to the kids," said Margie Cleveland, her 3-year-old son, David, in tow. "I don't want it in the community, period."